Notes- Early Hominids
Notes- Early Hominids
Important Paleoanthropologist to Remember:
Donald Johnson made one of the most exciting discoveries of early hominids in 1974. He was searching for artifacts in the hot African sun when he discovered a partial skeleton. After examining the piece of skull, jaw bone, rib and leg bones he realized he was looking at a hominid from nearly 3 million years ago. He called her Lucy, after the Beatles tune, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.
Australopithecus Afarensis
(Lucy and her relatives)
• Australopithecus is another name for southern apes
• By assembling Lucy’s bones scientists discovered what she may have looked like
• Lucy was short compared to people today. She was about 3 feet tall
• She had a mix of human and ape features
• Her arms were long but her hands and feet were about the same size as humans today
• She had a large head, and her forehead and jaw stuck out from her face
• Scientists believe Lucy and her relatives lived about 3 to 4 million years ago
• Most anthropologists believe Lucy was an early form of a human
• Lucy is believed to be biped, meaning she walked on 2 feet
• With her hands free she could gather and carry food more easily
• She could also better defend herself and her children
• Lucy’s brain was only about one third the size of ours
• Scientists have found no tools from her time and she was not believed to talk
Homo Habilis: The Handy Man
• The second group of hominids were discovered by Louis and Mary Leakey
• The bones they discovered in Africa along with artifacts that looked like tools
• Handy Man lived about 1.5 to 2 million years ago
• They had a combination of ape-like and human features
• They were also biped
• Because they found multiple sets of bones together they believe they lived in groups
• Living together would have helped them survive and gather food
• The Handy Man had a larger brain than Lucy
• This hominid used rocks as chopping tools and animal bones as digging sticks
• They also had the ability to learn and teach others
• The tools helped them take meat from dead animals and make traps for small animals
Homo Erectus: Upright Man
• Discovered by Eugene Dubois in 1891
• Found on the island of Java off the coast of Asia
• Found a skull and bones that showed that this hominid stood upright
• At this point Lucy and the Handy Man had not been discovered
• Upright Man is believed to have been around from 1.8 million to 200,000 B.C.E
• Scientist believe Upright Man migrated from Africa because similar remains have been found in Asia and Europe
• They were taller than the other hominids and were also believed to be better walkers and runners
• They looked more like humans but still had a large ridge above their eyes and a thicker jaw that stuck out
• Upright Man was a toolmaker
• They also had the ability to use fire because scientists have found burned animal bones near their remains
• Tools and teeth on Upright man show they ate more meat than earlier hominids
• They are also believed to have built huts and used fire to keep warm
• They also decorated their bodies with yellow-colored mud
Homo Sapiens: Neanderthals
• This hominid was known as Wise Man or Neanderthal
• Wise Man lived from 230,000 to 30,000 years ago
• Wise Man was shorter than humans but thicker and stronger than earlier hominids
• Wise Man had a much larger brain and used it
• More than 60 types of their tools have been found
• They used knives, scrappers and spears
• They also worked better together and they hunted as an organized group
• Wise Man is also believed to bury the dead and hold other ceremonies
• Wise Man is also believed to have taught his young
• They have also found remains of this hominid bones that had been broken and healed
• No one knows what happened to this group but some believe the individuals that survived helped the human species come about
Homo Sapiens: Early Modern Humans
• Found in 1879 when a young girl named Marie was exploring a cave with her father
• She found a room full of paintings believed to have been made by these early humans
• These people were known as Doubly Wise Man
• Believed to have existed from 35,000 to 12,000 B.C.E.
• Most believe they migrated from Africa to North and South America by land bridges that were later covered by water
• They looked more like us and used better tools
• Doubly Wise Man also wore more clothing
• They had high, rounded skulls, large brains, small teeth and slender bones
• They also built shelters of earth and stone
• They also used needles to sow animal skins for clothes
• They also used hooks and spears to catch fish
• Doubly Wise man was artistic and kept historical records
• They had the ability to dream, hope and express their feelings
• Also believed to have used language
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